Shaaban said he was on a mission for the CIA when he traveled to the Middle East in late 2002, but maintains he never entered Iraq because he was detained by Syrian authorities.

During the trial, a former high-ranking Iraqi intelligence official identified Shaaban as the man who offered to sell him the names of U.S. agents in the country. Prosecutors never alleged that Shaaban had names to sell.

Shaaban was living near Indianapolis when he was arrested in March 2005. FBI agents who raided his house said they found computer files praising Hussein and an unsigned contract proposing to recruit “human shields” to protect Iraq from the U.S. invasion. Authorities said he had seven passports.

Shaaban said the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks “put many Arabs and Muslims and innocents in bad positions. I am one of these — I am a victim of 9/11.”

Besides his 160-month sentence, Shaaban will lose his naturalization status. It was unclear where he would be deported after his jail term.